I think hacker is a great term. I don't particularly care how people perceive it. If someone wants to know what I do, I explain it in terms that will make sense to them. Sometimes that will include the word hacker, sometimes it won't.

So, if you just simply use it consistently with its true meaning as perceived by you then you are part of reclaiming that word from abuses.

On another note, it is not a problem for a word to have multiple meanings, most people are more than smart enough to figure out which is the one that you intend to use.

Context is everything.

To continue your analogy inventing a new word for hacker is retreating!

Hackers can be black hat. Hackers can be nasty people. They can also be completely benign.

Also, sometimes the law isn't in the right. I would definitely call Jon Johansen a Hacker in the highest and best sense. But he illegally broke encryption and enabled piracy.

see also: the hacker manifesto

Personally, I would appreciate a term that can be used to specifically refer to software hackers; something that conveys the concept of programming as an artistic medium.

[French, from Old French, from entreprendre, to undertake; see enterprise.]